Agathe

  On Saturday m she sat at the table with Lea. Her daughter had arrived when she heard about her sister's kidnapping.

  "And Friedrich is in the marshnd now?", asked Lea, stirring her coffee depressed. "His daughter is gone and he's going to party? Shouldn't he be here?"

  "He's where he o be. Not showing up for his son's wedding would be a sdal."

  "I feel more like he doesn't love Julia. Isn't a kidnapped child more important than a wedding?" Lea snorted and wiped a loear from her face.

  "I'm sure he loves Julia han I do." Agathe sighed. "But he has duties. Just like me. No matter how much we love our children. You uand that, don't you? Lea? Darling? It's no different for you. You, too, have duties."

  "Mom, of course. I uand that. We must represent the Kingdom. At any time."

  "And weddings are part of it. Advantageous weddings." Agathe smiled at her daughter. It was a sad smile. "We'll get Julia back."

  "Advantageous..." Lea thought about it for a moment. "Fritz marries a mortal. A beois ohat's far from beneficial, isn’t it? And what about Babette? None of us liked her, especially Peter. But you insisted it was an advantageous marriage. Why? Paul also married a oner, as far as I know. Just like Ingried."

  "Ingried and Paul refused to tinue our line... As for Fritz: I have itted him to reason. He won’t have children with a mortal, as I have asked of him. In a few years, he marry a witd do justice to his task! As for Babette. She is the daughter of my best friend. She is ambitious. Polite. She was willing to fulfill her duties and her father was always highly regarded among our peers. He's a war hero."

  Now Lea made a sorrowful impression. "That's what you really want from Fritz? And if the two want children? Shouldn't a mother support her children in their decisions? And it may be that Babette's father is highly regarded... But what about Peter's will? His decisions?"

  "Not if they're the wrong ones. I do not support wrong decisions. It was my dition for not standing in the way of Fritz's wedding. It was the dition for him to marry the mortal. I am not only your mother, Lea. I am your queen too! I have to ehat our family is strong. I ot allow weakness. Babette would have strengthened our family! She is a gifted healer, her father is an important man in our society and most importantly, she was willing to grow our family with more witches and wizards."

  "It almost sounds like you don't love us." Lea sighed. "But you have to think of the kingdom first, don't you?"

  "Of course, I love you, my darling."

  Lea nodded. "I just hope Julia is okay."

  Agathe looked out the window. Somewhere out there was her little girl.

  Agathe had already suffered many losses. The love of her life, Lea's father. Two children who turned against her and, above all, the greatest loss: it had been so long ago, but she could not fet it. At night, this loss haunted her dreams.

  When she was fifteen, the elves joihe werewolves. The famine had gotten worse over the years and the elves hoped to gain a great be from w with the wolves. Large parts of their forest had dried up due to the heat. They wahe nd of humans. And of the witches and wizards, of course, even if they were only a small group without influe that time. The king called on all the men of the try to join the army. Some women also went tathe's father had followed the call. One evening, as Agathe and her mother, were trying to enjoy their modest dihere was a kno the door. A messenger had e to tell them that their father had died in the war. From that evening onwards, all joy disappeared from her mother's eyes. The two moved soon after, as hardly anything grew in the fields of their vilge. From then on, they lived in one of the rger cities, where there was enough food and water. Her mother worked day after day so that Agathe cked nothing until one night elves and wolves ihe city. Agathe saw her mother die before her eyes. An elf had broken into her small apartment and killed her mother in cold blood. Shortly thereafter, her home stood in fmes. Agathe was also injured, but she survived.

  One day ter, she joihe army, where she met the current baron and her best friend. She learo hahe sword and flourished as a soldier. She was an excellent strategist. Driven by anger and hatred, she led her people to victory. And the baron stood by her side.

  That he had chosen a mortal was, of course, regrettable. He weakened his family line and would mourn the loss of his wife and children soohan he realized. But he hadn't wao listen to her. Of course, she had warned him. After all, as his best friend, it was her job to do so. And even more so as his queen. Maybe she should have forbidden him to marry that mortal?

  She wanted something different for her children. For herself, she wanted something different.

  Julia

  Josefine had calmed down. She sat with Flora i and helped her bake bread. Peter and Fiete sat in the living room and talked. Finn had fallen asleep in the guest room. Marko sat o him and watched silently over his sleep. Julia joined Peter and Fiete.

  The two sat on the sofa and talked quietly. When they noticed Julia, they moved clether so that Julia could sit down with them.

  "Well? Little sister?" Peter smiled. "What's wrong?"

  "I don't know." She leaned against her brother. "I'm worried."

  "I uand that." Peter brushed through her hair.

  Julia's gaze wao Fiete. "You said you just found Josefine? Why is that?"

  Fiete turo her and made himself fortable cross-legged. "My sister was expelled from the mountains after getting involved with a bck dragon."

  "A bck dragon?", asked Peter. "So there are different dragons?"

  "Bcks and whites, yes. The bcks are aggressive. Malignant. Sneaky. Wily. I’m a white dragon. We are much quieter. Friendlier. We don't mix with them. This is an important w among dragons. Bck dragons are loners. But my sister was in love. For this, she was chased away. I was not allowed to follow her. A few days ago, I resisted the others and was exiled for it. So I set out to look for my sister. She regnant when she was chased away."

  "Then is Josefine?", asked Peter restlessly.

  Fiete nodded. "The child of a bck dragon. As cute and sweet as she may seem, a very dangerous dragon lies dormant iherefore, we will move on soon. Maybe we will find a new home ieppe. I don't want to leave her among so many people."

  "Are you afraid of her?" Julia couldn't believe it. Josefine was friendly and shy. They had slept in the same bed. If Josefine was indeed dangerous, thee would never have allowed that, right?

  "No", Fiete replied. "I hardly know her, but she is already the ter of my world. I'm not afraid of my niece... My his child fuses me." He ughed softly. "But I'm afraid of what could happen if someone upsets her. So far, she has been quiet. Therefore, it is safe to have her here. But I have seen bck dragons. They are much more dangerous than we are. They don't kill just to eat."

  "Oh." Peter had turned pale.

  "That's why we 't stay here much longer", Fiete said. "It's too risky. Even if she doesn't seem aggressive, I don't want to risk it. She also has the blood of the white dragons and I hope it is the stronger blood."

  "That sounds uling", Peter murmured. "But... You could help us. This vilge is soon utack. We could use all the help."

  Fiete shook his head. "I'm afraid that's not possible. Not with Josefine. No. This is too risky. Even if she were hiding... As soon as she smells blood... No. It makes bck dragons furious. She would not only attack those who threaten you. I'm sure of that."

  "So you're not going to help us?" Peter hugged Julia even tighter.

  "I 't help you. I'm sorry."

  "That's fine." Julia gave the dragon a trite smile. "You have to protect your niece."

  "And you of my he dragon whispered softly.

  Josefine came running into the living room. She almost jumped. "I baked bread!", she excimed with childlike enthusiasm. "My very first bread! Flora is so nice!"

  "That’s great." Fiete stood up and hugged her closely.

  Torsten

  There was chaos around him. The castle reparing for the wedding. Torsten watched the servants full of anticipation. His father had also arrived in the meantime. King Friedrich was talking to Torsten's future parents-in-w.

  He hadn't seen Marlon before. The vampire had not even appeared for breakfast. Annemarie suspected that he was sulking. After all, the dragon had escaped him.

  Torsten grinned. He should rather rejoice that he could not find the dragon. Otherwise, he would probably have been dragon fodder long ago. Do vampires?

  "Here you are!" Annemarie rushed towards him. She wore a beautiful pink dress with embroidered tendrils. She looked pretty as always. "Are you watg the hustle and bustle?"

  "You caught me."

  Annemarie ughed. "Torsten? e. Dah me!"

  "Here? In the middle of the hallway? Between the servants?"

  "Yes! e on. You had dance lessons st night, right?"

  Torsten shook his head. "I'm not a very good dancer."

  "It doesn't matter. e! Let's dance!"

  And they dahey danced up and down the hallway and Torsten could hardly believe his luck. Here in the snd, he had found the love of his life. Yes. He was in love. And in Annemarie's eyes, he could see that she was too. They only knew each other for such a short time.

  He loved a vampire. His mother would probably have fainted. He was not only far away, no, his future wife saw him not only as a husband but also as a meal. But he could live with that. What did that matter?